EP36: Preparing for a DBA While Working in B2B: What Really Helped Me

Hello everyone. Welcome to B2B podcast. Today's episode is a little bit special and different because I want to share my DBA journey. Not from an academic point of view, but from the perspective of B2B sales and business development. The episode is for you. If you work in B2B you are thinking about a DBA or you feel your career is is changing but you are not sure what's next. First I would like to introduce myself quickly. My name is Megan. I have more than 20 years of experiences in international B2B sales, marketing and business development. I worked across industries like it, manufacturing, system integration, cloud and AI and now aviation. I worked in Europe and Asia, often in expatriate road. I was responsible not only for sales, but also for profit and loss, team management and cross functional coordination. I'm now living and working in Nantes, France and I completed my DBA at Audiencia Business School. I come from practice, not from academia and that is really shaped how I experienced the dba. Why I started a dba Actually it's a big life transition for me. I moved to France. New language, new industry, new environment, middle aged women and Covid. The DBA was not just a title for me, it was kind of a structure, a space to slow down and rethink the possibilities for my future. I applied to several DBA programs here in France. In the end I choose Audenciat not only because it is innot but because one sentence never stop daring. At that time, this sentence really described my life and my desire to change. Having a goal, it is very good. But trust me, DBA is a long journey. Originally I was thinking I want to become a consultant. But you know, the DBA journal is long. It might change a lot of things. Your career may change, your definition of success may change. So having a goal is very good, but don't lock yourself into it. And especially for people who has been working for quite a while, going back to learning mode, especially research mode is different, like emba, right? Because it's a research. So going back to the learning mode and research was very challenging. My experience is simple, don't be afraid, trust the school and the professors. For me it's like getting back to a new language I had not used for a long time. At the beginning it feels slow and my habit was always to connect what I learned at school with real problems from my work. This is in my opinion the biggest advantage of coming back from industry. Because we already have so much business experiences. In the end we can pick it up faster and sometimes with even more interesting discoveries. Another thing is you really have to work closely with your peers. Some questions are hard to ask your supervisor. In the beginning, your classmates walk the same journey with you. I remember when I couldn't write my research proposal, a classmate keep encouraging me and that support really matter. And honestly, this is very similar to B2B. You don't build a long term value alone. Another thing is your supervisor end of the journey, you have to write a thesis. And this you really work closely with your supervisor. For me, I manage them like manage my boss or my clients. That means you need to keep them always update. Don't make them feel panic so they can understand you better. How to help you bring clearly your agenda and your expectation. So they know how to help you. Maybe they are not professional or understand fully your topic. But trust me, they have experiences in academia. They know how to help you out to go through with this. And another thing is in school they have this DBA handbook. It is designed to help you graduate at the beginning of the journey. Don't jump too fast to conclusion. Be open, be creative, be curious. But when it's time to prepare your proposal, pay attention to time frame and deliverables. Use the research handbook. It might feel a bit too early now, but it is designed to guide you step by step to graduation. Finally, literature review. As we say, the biggest difference with the academia industry is is sometimes when you work long time in industry, you just have this common sense what to do and what's right thing to do. But when you come back to academia, literature review are so important. Because all of your questions and foundations already have the answers in the papers you read. They can help you to answer all of the questions from your VIVA committee. You are standing on the shoulders of giants. My final message to welcome all of the DBA newcomers. It is such a long journey. You might spend three, four years with your school, your professor and your colleagues. You must feel lonely sometimes because you spend a lot of time in this. And especially time is the most precious thing. We are all challenged by work, family and kids. It is normal to feel tired, late or even anxious. I personally want to give up several times and doubted if I could finish it. But trust yourself. Remember this moment. Remember why you joined DBA Journey. This courage matters. Thank you very much for listening to me. I hope my sharing helps you as well. See you next time. Bye.